His True Hope
by SharpeBB
Summary: The DigiDestined discover an old enemy has returned even stronger than before. But can T.K. find the strength to defeat not only their foe, but his own personal demons as well?
1. The Best One Yet

I'm really excited to be putting this story up! It's my first extended story and my first Adventure story. As always, please review it so I know what you think!

And now for the sad part, the disclaimer. I don't own Digimon.

* * *

The large group of teenagers cheered as their friend blew out the candles on his birthday cake. The young blonde blushed, hoping that they weren't causing too much of a disturbance in the restaurant. He was flattered that they were making such a big deal for him today, but it was so much more than he had expected when he woke up that morning.

"So what did you wish for T.K.?" asked a boy with large, bushy brown hair sitting next to him.

"Tai, he obviously can't tell you. Otherwise it won't come true," responded a girl with short, orange hair, while rolling her eyes.

"It doesn't matter. T.V. will never be cooler than me so his wish is pointless," smirked another boy, with spikey, maroon hair.

"SHUT UP DAVIS!" everyone except the birthday boy yelled.

T.K. laughed and stood up, wanting to thank everyone for coming out. He looked around the table at all of his friends. On his immediate left was Tai, who had the same confident grin he always had on, but looked odd wearing an expensive blazer. Next to Tai was Sora, who had shocked everybody by wearing a stunningly beautiful red dress. Yolei and Ken were holding hands, and looked extremely cute, while wearing a dress and shirt of the same, dark green colour. Davis was sitting next to them, and had pleasantly surprised everybody by not wearing any soccer apparel or his goggles. Cody, likely in an attempt to make up for Davis, was wearing a Dark Blue suit, which accented how much he had grown recently. Izzy, had attracted looks from several of the other girls in the restaurant when he walked in looking incredibly smooth with a classic shirt, tie and vest combination. Then finally, on his other side, T.K. looked at Kari, who looked incredibly pretty in a pink, sleeveless blouse and a white skirt.

"First off, I need to thank you all for coming. This is way too nice just to celebrate my fifteenth birthday," T.K. said, "I know we all wish Matt, Joe, and Mimi were here, but it's alright. They've all already sent me birthday wishes today."

"I get why Mimi and Joe aren't here," Davis interrupted, "You know, one's at university and the other's in America, but why couldn't Matt make it? I mean, I had to skip playing soccer tonight to be here!"

"Don't be a prat Davis" Yolei snapped at him.

"It's fine Yolei," T.K. chuckled, "Davis, for the last time, Matt's in Kyoto, doing an audition for university. He and I celebrated my birthday two days ago before he left."

"And if you have to ask one more time, I won't talk to you for a whole week," Kari added.

Everyone laughed at how Davis would go crazy with Kari ignoring him for a week. T.K. smiled at his best friend, and she slyly winked back at him. When everyone calmed down, T.K. continued.

"Like I was saying, thank you so much for doing this. I had no idea what Kari had in mind when she mentioned 'hanging out'. I really wish that I had some way to repay you guys for all of this. You all mean so much to me. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to be put with. I hope nothing ever changes."

The group cheered as he sat down, and T.K. cut the cake, giving everyone a slice. As they all continued to eat, T.K. looked at his watch, and realised with a pang that they'd have to leave soon.

"Man, I really wish we didn't have school tomorrow. This is way too much fun to end," he said.

"It is a shame," Ken responded, "If your birthday was Friday or Saturday instead of Tuesday then we could have had a much bigger party."

"Hey, why don't we do that then?" Kari squealed.

"Do what?" Davis asked.

Cody rolled his eyes, "She's saying we should continue T.K.'s party on the weekend."

"But his birthday is today," Davis said, "That's why we're doing this now, isn't it?"

"Davis, it isn't a rule that you have to celebrate someone's birthday on the actual day, you can celebrate it whenever you want," Sora informed him, with a look of pity in her eyes.

"Really? That's allowed?" he asked.

Tai shook his head at Davis, "There is no way I'm ever letting you date my sister."

The group laughed again, and Kari turned to T.K.

"So, what do you want to do birthday boy?"

Before T.K. could answer Davis interrupted again.

"Why does he get to decide? If we're all hanging out shouldn't we decide together?"

"Davis, just stop talking," Ken sighed, "T.K. what do you want to do?"

"Well, it's been a couple months since we went to the DigiWorld. So maybe we could all go for a visit on Saturday! We could spend all day there and even spend the night if we have to!"

They younger DigiDestined all agreed with excitement, but Tai, Sora and Izzy looked a little put out.

"Aww that's a shame, I won't be able to make it. I'm starting my new I.T. internship on Saturday," Izzy said.

"Sora and I can't make it either. We've got to finish our project on mythical gods," Tai added.

"Start our project more like," Sora mumbled.

"I told you I'm not doing any Gods of Love!" Tai shot at her.

"And I told YOU that it's impossible to find any Gods of Courage!" She shot back.

"Jeez, would you two just get a room already?" Izzy cut in.

Tai and Sora blushed and looked in opposite directions while everyone laughed.

"Well that's a shame," T.K. said, "Because I kind of thought that we could go back and visit File Island! Give the new guys a tour of where OUR journey began."

"Whoa, that's awesome!" Yolei cried out.

"Brilliant idea T.K." Cody added.

"Prodigious!" Izzy finished.

"Alright that settles it! On Saturday we're going to File Island," T.K. announced.

"Hey T.A. are there any romantic spots on File Island?" Davis asked looking at Kari.

"If there are, you'll be visiting them alone," Kari giggled.

With that, they ended their dinner, and took care of the bill. T.K. wanted to pay his own share, but eventually was convinced by the others to let Kari pay for him, while Tai had to threaten Davis to make sure he paid for his own meal. They gathered up all the leftovers, and slowly walked out of the restaurant.

"Does anybody other than Sora and Izzy want a ride home?" Tai asked.

"No thanks Tai, I have to take the bus anyway," Ken said.

"And the rest of us live fairly close by so we can walk," Cody added.

"Alright. Come on Kari."

Kari shook her head, "No I'm gonna walk home with these guys."

Tai scowled, "I don't think so. It's dangerous."

"We'll be around to protect her," came a new voice.

Everyone turned to see a white cat jump out of a nearby tree and land right in front of Kari. It was quickly followed by a furry orange and white creature with bat like wings for ears.

"Gatomon! What are you doing here?" Kari asked her Digimon.

"And I thought I told you to stay at home Patamon," T.K. said, with a smile on his face.

"It's you're birthday T.K.! I have to make sure nothing happens to you!" Patamon announced proudly, hovering in front of T.K.

"Plus you wanted to make sure I brought you enough food didn't you? You really are a little pig sometimes," T.K. laughed.

Patamon scowled with a small, *PAH* hit T.K. with a mini Boom Bubble before settling down on his head.

"Haha, alright," Tai laughed, "As long as you've got these two, and someone walks you home, then I guess you're fine Kari."

"Don't worry Tai, I'll look after her!" Davis declared.

"T.K., you walk her home. And make sure Davis stays at least five feet away at all times," Tai growled.

The group laughed as Tai, Sora and Izzy got into Tai's car and drove off.

"Well, I guess I should get going too," Ken informed them, "I don't want to be stuck on the bus too late. Plus, Minomon is probably getting pretty hungry. I'll see you guys on Saturday!"

He leaned over to Yolei, kissing her cheek, then turned around and left. The other five teenagers began walking home themselves. They walked slowly, partially because the food they were carrying slowed them down, but mainly because they were having too much fun.

After a few minutes, T.K.'s D-Terminal chimed, and he pulled it out. He smiled after reading the message, typed a response, and put it away.

"Another birthday wish from the other DigiDestined?" Yolei asked.

"Yup, they've been coming in at really random times, but they keep me smiling," T.K. laughed.

"Who sent that one?" Patamon asked

"Catherine," T.K. replied, blushing slightly.

The group all laughed at their blonde friend. Ever since going to France, it appeared that Catherine had developed a small crush on T.K., and they all loved to tease him about it.

"Let's see what it says!" Davis shouted, grabbing the D-Terminal out of T.K.'s pocket.

"Hey, Davis! Give that back," T.K. cried out, "Patamon get it!"

"No way, I wanna know what it says too!" the Digimon said.

"Guys, leave it alone! It's T.K.'s business! We don't need to hear it," Kari scorned them.

"Too late," Gatomon told her as Davis opened up the device and began to read, in a horrible French girl voice.

"_Bonjour T.K.! I hope you had a lovely birthday today! I wish I could've been there to celebrate with you. I will talk to you soon! Love Catherine. _Aww, how cute, she's already saying love!" Davis sniggered, "Let's see what your reply was T.E."

"NO!" Kari yelled as she grabbed the D-Terminal from Davis and gave it back to her best friend, "You really can be a jerk sometimes Davis!"

"It's fine Kari, it's not a big deal," T.K. told her calmly.

"But that e-mail is your business. It's not like the rest of us are supposed to know about it," she replied, with a hint of resentment in her voice.

T.K. wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulder, "Relax Kari. You're not allowed to be upset by anything today. Not even Davis."

Kari smiled and nodded as they continued on.

Eventually, they reached the intersection where they always split up.

"Well, I guess we'll see you two tomorrow," Cody said to Davis and Kari.

"You mean three. I'm not going anywhere without T.K. escorting me," Kari said giggling.

Yolei smirked at her friend, while Davis groaned and T.K. laughed. "Well, I guess I'll see you in class then Kari. I hope you had a good day today T.K. And again, Happy Birthday!" She finished, while giving him a hug.

"Yeah, hope it was the best one yet," Cody told him as he offered his hand for a high-five.

"It's definitely a contender!" T.K. exclaimed as his hand met Cody's with a loud clap, "See you tomorrow! Tell Poromon and Upamon I liked their gifts!"

"You got presents from Digimon?" Davis asked T.K. as they parted ways with Cody and Yolei.

"Yeah, Poromon gave me two intertwined feathers to stick in my hat that he pulled out as Hawkmon, and Upamon made me some sushi," T.K. told him.

"And Patamon and I snuck into a store and got T.K. a new hat!" Gatomon announced proudly.

"Wait, you stole a hat?!" Kari cried out.

"No, not technically," Patamon said looking guilty, "I grabbed the hat and Gatomon snuck some money into the cash register. We were quite sneaky about it!"

"Where'd you get the money from?" Davis asked.

"From my wallet," Kari said glaring down at Gatomon, "I was wondering why I had less money."

"You would've spent it on T.K. anyway," Gatomon retorted smiling.

"Man, now I feel really bad that I didn't get you anything T.A." Davis said solemnly.

"As you should," Kari said glaring at him.

"Hey, you didn't get him anything either!" Davis retorted.

Kari blushed, and was starting to look down in shame when T.K. responded to him.

"She already gave me my present before we went out Davis. She wanted it to be a secret."

"Oh really? What was it?"

"You are aware of what a secret is, right?" T.K. asked with his eyebrows raised.

Davis turned away and pouted. While he did so, Kari looked up at T.K. and smiled, and he winked back.

_I'm so lucky he's always willing to cover for me. _Kari thought.

After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at Davis' apartment building. He gave T.K. a fist bump and moved in to give Kari a hug before T.K. stopped him.

"Sorry Davis, I gave my word to Tai."

"Awww come on!"

"Davis, if you just go home now, I promise I'll give you a kiss on T.K.'s next fifteenth birthday." Kari said with a sly grin on her face.

"Deal!" Davis shouted, and he turned to leave. T.K. looked at Kari, who winked at him. Just as they were about to turn the corner, they heard a shout of, "HEY WAIT A MINUTE!" and the two friends burst out laughing along with their Digimon.

They continued on in silence for a few minutes. Kari and T.K. had long ago passed the stage of constantly needing to talk when they were with each other. They understood that sometimes, just enjoying someone's company was more than enough.

As they arrived on Kari's street, Gatomon turned to Patamon.

"Hey, I bet you I can run to the building faster than you can fly there!" she challenged.

"You're on!" he responded and leapt off of T.K.'s head, flying as fast as he could.

"No fair I didn't say 'Go'!" Gatomon shouted, charging after him.

"They certainly are energetic aren't they?" T.K. asked Kari.

"Yeah, I know. They always seem to have a bit more left in the tank," Kari giggled.

"Thanks for doing this Kari. You really didn't need to spend the effort on arranging this."

"I know I didn't have to silly! I wanted to! It's what you do for your best friend. Especially since I, you know, dropped the ball and couldn't find you a present," she finished blushing.

T.K. stopped her, put his bag down, and pulled her into a strong hug. Kari instantly dropped her own bag and wrapped her arms around T.K.

"Kari, I've told you a hundred times, you never need to get me anything. As long as I get to spend time with you, then it's a good day."

"But you always do so much for me, and I never do enough in return," Kari said, her voice quivering.

"Stop it Kari. I don't want to be the reason you're upset. But if it really means that much to you, just get me something later. It's not like there's only one day a year when you can give someone a present."

Kari lifted her head and looked into T.K.'s clear blue eyes, and smiled. She leaned in, and kissed him lightly on the cheek, before resting her head on his chest.

"I'm so glad that you're my best friend T.K."

"Same goes for me Kari," he replied soothingly.

After they broke apart, they picked up their bags, and finished the walk to Kari's apartment building. They arrived to see Gatomon and Patamon laying on the ground, both out of breath.

"Who won?" T.K. asked them smiling.

"I did!" they responded at the same time.

T.K. and Kari laughed.

"Come on, let's get you upstairs so you can eat," Kari said as she picked up Gatomon.

As T.K. picked up Patamon and placed him on his head, he turned to his best friend.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Absolutely," she smiled, "I wish it were Saturday though,"

"Yeah, me too."

They gave each other one last hug and Kari turned and walked into her building. T.K. stood there for a moment, smiling before starting to walk home.

"What's on Saturday T.K.?" Patamon asked.

"We're all taking the day to go to the DigiWorld," T.K. told his partner.

"Oh that'll be cool," Patamon yawned.

"Yup, but you seem pretty tired. Get some sleep buddy."

They walked in silence for a while when Patamon spoke again.

"Did you have a good birthday T.K.?" He asked drowsily.

T.K. unconsciously brushed his cheek where Kari had kissed him.

"Best one yet."

* * *

I hope you guys liked Chapter One!

I know there wasn't a lot of Adventure or Romance in it but we'll get there, I promise.

Let me know what you think!


	2. An Old Friend

Chapter 2!

We've got some action in this one, and a few hints at romance, but not a lot. The relationship will be developing slowly so bear with me. It'll be worth the wait though, I promise!

* * *

Yolei and Kari were trying to stay awake as their teacher droned on at the front of the class. Paying attention in Calculus was hard enough, but having to suffer through it before lunch on a Friday was close to torture.

Yolei looked up at the clock, and groaned, seeing that they still had over half an hour left. She looked at Kari and rolled her eyes. As Kari giggled silently, Yolei tore up a piece of paper and started scribbling on it, passing the note to Kari when she finished. Kari looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching, and grabbed it.

_I swear, if something interesting doesn't happen soon, I'm going to lose my mind!_ _How was the walk home with Davis and T.K. the other night? I meant to ask you but it slipped my mind._

Kari thought about what to write for a moment, before she jotted down her answer and handed the note back to Yolei.

_I know! This has got to be the most boring hour ever! If only a Digimon were causing havoc right now. The walk was fine. We laughed at how much of an idiot Davis can be at times. Oh, and T.K. told Davis that I gave T.K. his present before we went to dinner. So if Davis says anything, play along. I don't want Davis knowing I didn't actually get T.K. a present._

"Ms. Inoue?"

Yolei looked up, startled.

"Umm yes sir?"

"Do you know the answer to the question?"

"Uh, let's see," Yolei said thoughtfully, trying to buy as much time as she could, "Two?"

"Very close! It's 2.37! I'm impressed, I've never seen a student catch on so quickly."

Yolei tried to put a modest smile on her face until the teacher continued the lesson. Once he did, she quickly wrote a response to Kari.

_Damn that was close! Thank god I'm lucky. But don't worry about Davis. He'll have forgotten about it already. Why didn't you get him something?_

_ It's hard. He never seems like he wants or needs anything. And he's always so good to me, that anything I give him needs to be perfect. I hate that I couldn't find anything though. He said it's alright, but I feel crappy about it._

Yolei gave her friend an appraising look before responding.

_I know you don't believe me, but I'm guessing he said that because he likes you! I'm positive that he does. And I know you don't believe me, and you don't even think you have feelings for him, but he cares about you more than Ken does about me. And we've been together for over a year! Figure out your feelings before someone else asks him out._

Kari, rolled her eyes while shaking her head.

_He's protective of me like a brother. Like Tai. He's been like that since our first adventure in the DigiWorld. And it's not because he's in love with me. It's because he wanted to prove to the others that he could handle responsibility as well. So please Yolei, just let it go. Don't try an act like I'd be jealous of T.K. spending his time with someone else, because that's not going to happen. There's no one he could talk to that would make me jealous._

Yolei was getting annoyed at Kari's stubbornness but still had one card to play.

_Not even Catherine?_

Kari read the note and blushed. She was spared a triumphant look from Yolei however, because just as she had finished reading the note, the lights in the room shut off on their own.

A couple of the girls screeched in shock, and there was quickly a buzz of students talking in the class. The teacher quickly calmed them down, and left the room to find out what was going on.

"Hey, all the lights in the hallway are out too!" A student near the door said.

"Well this is different," Yolei commented to Kari, who nodded in response. The class quickly filled with the chatter of students again, and Kari avoided more of Yolei's interrogation by talking to a couple of the other classmates. She knew Yolei wouldn't let it go, but at least she had put off the discussion for a bit longer.

Their teacher returned twenty minutes later and called the class to order.

"Well everyone, apparently the school's database has been corrupted, and somehow, the whole electrical grid of the school has been compromised. Lighting, heating, the P.A. system, they're all broken. It'll probably take at least a week to fix, if not longer."

"Will everything be fine in time for the dance?" a girl asked worriedly.

"It's still two weeks away so probably. But I do have some good news for you kids. The principal has decided that it would be unsafe for everyone to be here with the school in this state. So the school is closed until things are fixed!"

The class erupted in cheers, and the students quickly got up to leave, wanting to start their mini-holiday. Kari and Yolei grabbed their things and started towards their lockers.

"Wow, I wonder what happened," Kari said.

"I know. It's pretty crazy. But I'm not complaining. Time off! Maybe we can even stay the week in the DigiWorld," Yolei responded, her voice filled with excitement.

"That would be kind of cool," Kari replied.

Just then, Yolei's D-Terminal chimed. She opened it quickly, and smiled as she read the message she received.

"Looks like there was the same problem at Ken's school, so he's off for the day too. I'm gonna go meet him now! I'll see you tomorrow Kari," Yolei called as she ran off to her locker.

Kari smiled and shook her head as she continued down a level to her own locker. She got to her locker and slowly began to put everything away. Just as she was about to finish up, the locker next to her opened and the occupant spoke.

"This is quickly becoming the luckiest year ever," T.K. said, "First our lockers are next to each other, we've got the easiest teachers, we're both on school teams, you threw me the best birthday ever and now we've got a week off! I don't know how it could get any better!"

"One of your girlfriends could ask you out," Kari teased.

T.K. blushed. He still wasn't used to the fact that most of the girls in the school, even the older ones, had a crush on him. All of the DigiDestined teased him about it, until T.K. had started screaming at Davis to shut up about it. Since then, everyone had stopped. But Kari still liked to joke about it occasionally, knowing that she could get away with it.

"I actually just escaped from Nina. Not only did she ask if I wanted to hang out tomorrow night, she also asked if I would go to the dance with her."

"How'd you get out of that?" Kari asked as they started to leave.

"Well obviously I said I had plans for the weekend. As for the dance, Well I umm…" He trailed off mumbling the end of his sentence.

"You what?"

"I said I was already taking you," he told her, avoiding her gaze.

"Oh…"

"I was gonna suggest going as friends anyway. Just to have a buffer at least. And obviously I'd rather hang out with you for the night than anyone else. But you can obviously say 'no' if you want to go with someone else or something," T.K. said quickly.

"It's fine T.K.," she smiled, "I'm always happy to help out."

T.K. smiled and nodded as the continued out the school. When they reached the front gate, they saw Cody and Davis were already waiting for them.

"Jeez, what took you guys so long? And where's Yolei?" Davis questioned them in an agitated tone.

"Relax Davis. Yolei is going to meet up with Ken. Apparently his school has the same problem, so they got let out too," Kari replied.

"What?!" T.K. and Cody shouted together.

"Kari why didn't you say that earlier?" T.K. asked.

"Why is it such a big deal?" She responded with her eyebrows raised.

"Don't you think it's a little coincidental that his school, on the other side of town, has the exact same problem?" T.K. asked.

"I know what you mean," Cody said, "There's no way that just happens. Somebody must have planned this."

"But who would do something like that to several schools?" Kari said, her voice now filled with concern.

T.K. and Cody were silent, trying to figure out what could be happening. Davis didn't think much of it though.

"C'mon guys, these things do happen sometimes. Let's just get ready for tomorrow! Think how much time we can spend in the DigiWorld now!"

"I guess you're right," Cody responded, "There's no reason we can't have a good time with the week off!"

They started their walk home, with Davis, Kari and Cody talking animatedly about their upcoming trip. T.K. on the other hand wasn't reassured. He had one thought that kept nagging at him.

_How exactly did this happen?_

* * *

The next day, everyone was gathered at T.K.'s apartment, finishing preparations for their trip. Kari was checking her camera, Cody and Yolei were double checking their bags. Ken was listening, with extreme patience, to Davis go on about a new fighting strategy, while T.K. finished putting Hawkmon's feathers into his new hat, still white, hat.

"Are you guys done over there?" Cody asked their Digimon, who were all eating the food Yolei had brought for them.

"We'll, we could still eat, but all the food is gone," Upamon replied.

"Then let's go!" Kari said with excitement.

"Right, I've got my computer all set up to take us to File Island. I'm not sure where exactly we'll get dropped, but I'll figure out where everything is quickly," T.K. told them.

"Perfecto! Let's get going!" Yolei yelled.

"Okay!" T.K. said, holding his D3 up to his computer, "DigiPort OPEN!"

A bright light filled the room, and before they knew it, everyone was back in the DigiWorld.

"Davis how is it that after all this time, you still manage to land on people?" Ken complained as he pushed Davis off of him and stood up.

"It's Veemon's fault! He always pushes me from behind," Davis retorted.

"Hey, it's not my fault you have no balance!" Veemon shot at him.

While Veemon and Davis began to wrestle, and the others tried to break them up, T.K. started to look around their surroundings with Patamon. He knew that he had been there before, it was certainly a familiar area, but he couldn't tell exactly where they were.

"This place look familiar to you too Patamon?" T.K. asked his Digimon.

"It sure does. I'm almost positive I know where we are. I just need to check one thing," he said as he flew over to a tree. He took a deep breath, and flew right into the tree, disappearing. After a moment, he flew back out again, and landed happily on T.K.'s shoulder, and whispered into his ear.

"No way!" T.K. exclaimed.

"What is it T.K.?" Kari asked him, now that everything had calmed down, "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"I sure do!" he said excitedly, "Believe it or not, we're actually in the forest where the rest of us all landed when we were first teleported here! This clearing right here was where we all met each other's Digimon!"

"Except Mimi," Patamon said.

"What happened to Mimi?" Cody asked.

"We found her and Tanemon in a clearing, over this way," T.K. said, leading the group forward. After a minute or two of walking through the trees, they arrived at another clearing.

"This is where she was. Running from the Kuwagamon that decided that we were gonna be his lunch," T.K. informed them, "We didn't stay here long though. We had to keep running so we went, this way. I think."

"No T.K., I'm pretty sure it was this direction," Patamon said, flying away from T.K., "I think Infinity Mountain was behind us as we ran."

"Right. Let's go," T.K. replied, and they all followed Patamon.

"Boy, you guys sure did a lot of running on your first trip," Davis sniggered.

"What do you expect? We had been here all of five minutes and we were already fighting to survive," T.K. said calmly.

"And it's not like they had someone to help them like we did Davis," Kari added.

"Yeah, it was a lot more of a shock for us. We didn't really have time to prepare like you did. Thank god Patamon, well Tokomon, was waiting for me. Otherwise I would have been way too scared."

"You're welcome," Patamon called back.

Everyone laughed as they continued to walk. After several more minutes of travel, they eventually arrived at the edge of the forest, and found themselves on a cliff overlooking a river.

"Told you this was the right way!" Patamon announced proudly.

"I never doubted you buddy!" T.K. said smiling, "It sure looks different when you're walking, and not running for your life."

"I bet," Ken said, "So what happened next?"

"Well, we faced off against Kuwagamon here. We thought we were finished but that's when everyone digivolved for the first time, from their In-Training forms to Rookie. We thought we had him beat, but just when we were celebrating, Kuwagamon got back up and destroyed the edge of the cliff causing us all to fall into the river."

"He cheated," Patamon pouted, "He just wouldn't stay down!"

"I bet you'd like a shot at him now," Gatomon teased. Just as Patamon was about to respond, there was a blood curdling roar and a giant red figure appeared in the sky behind them. It sped towards them and they soon recognised that it was Kuwagamon.

"Looks like you're about to get your chance!" Davis said.

"You have got to be kidding me!" T.K. cried out in exasperation, "Is he like, the official greeter to the DigiWorld?"

"Maybe he just does File Island," Kari joked, winking at T.K., who just rolled his eyes in response

"How are we gonna take him?" Armadillomon asked.

"Allow us," Hawkmon replied as he stepped forward with Wormmon,

"Hawkmon digivolve to… AQUILAMON!"

"Wormmon digivolve to… STINGMON!"

"Time for some aerial combat! Go get him!" Yolei shouted as the two Digimon flew off towards their foe.

Aquilamon charged at Kuwagamon and hit him head on. He roared in triumph but as he turned around, he saw Kuwagamon had barely been phased and was still heading towards the others.

"How did that not work," he growled.

"Don't worry, I've got this. Spiking Strike!" Stingmon shouted, hitting Kuwagamon from below.

This time, Kuwagamon shrieked in pain, and turned around to face Stingmon and Aquilamon. Despite taking two powerful hits, it appeared that they hadn't been very effective. He sped towards them and they barely got out of the way in time.

"Let's hit him again!" Aquilamon shouted, "Blast Rings!"

"Spiking Strike!"

The first rings hit Kuwagamon and he faltered enough for Stingmon to score a direct hit. Before they could celebrate though, Kuwagamon stuck back.

"Trap Scissors!" He yelled, as he grabbed Stingmon, and began crushing him.

"STINGMON!" Ken shouted.

"We've got to help them! Aquilamon can't save Stingmon alone!" Cody said.

"Leave it to us," T.K. told them with a determined look, "Time to teach this guy that he should have finished me off 6 years ago when he had the chance."

He turned to looked at his partner, "Ready Patamon?"

Patamon nodded, "Right. Patamon digivolve to… ANGEMON!"

Angemon quickly flew off to help Aquilamon, who kept charging Kuwagamon.

"Grand Horn!" He shouted as he hit his target again, "Gah this isn't working!"

"Allow me to help! Angel Rod!" Angemon cried out as he brought his staff down on Kuwagamon's head, causing him to release Stingmon.

Before Kuwagamon could recover, Angemon turned to attack again.

"HAND OF FATE!"

The beam connected with Kuwagamon, and he was blasted off into the distance, leaving a trail of black dust in his wake. There was a crash in the distance, and the three digimon waited to see if there would be a counter attack. After a few minutes of waiting, the all sighed with relief, and returned to the group.

"Way to go guys!" Davis congratulated them.

"Yeah, that was good!" Kari added.

Ken gingerly picked up Wormmon, making sure he was alright.

"I'm fine Ken, just a little bruise or two. No biggie," he said told Ken.

Ken turned to look at Davis, Kari, Cody and Yolei celebrating, and saw that T.K. was holding Patamon with a serious look on his face.

"You're thinking what I am, aren't you T.K.?" He asked.

"I think so," T.K. responded.

"What's up with you two?" Davis asked with a confused look on his face.

"Something's not right," Ken said, "There's no way one champion level digimon could take on two so easily. Especially ones as strong as ours."

"And Angemon's attack should not have been that powerful," T.K. continued, "Hand of Fate is strong, but it's only ever that strong against evil digimon. There's no reason it should have damaged Kuwagamon so much. Plus, what was that black dust in the sky?"

"He's right," Yolei said, "What do you think it could be?"

"Maybe Kuwagamon has just gotten a lot stronger over the last few years," Cody suggested, "It happens to all digimon, so that's probably all it is."

"Yes, that's probably it. Just a lot of exercise," Hawkmon joked, making everyone laugh.

"What about the dust though?" Kari asked when she calmed down.

Everyone was quiet, because no one had any ideas.

"Well, there's no use worrying about it right now!" Davis told them in an upbeat tone, "Let's keep going! Where to next T.J.?"

T.K. smiled and waved the others on. They slowly followed the river towards the ocean, while T.K. told them how Gomamon had saved everyone from drowning in the river. Eventually, they reached the edge of the cliff, and they made their way down to the edge of the ocean, and reached the spot where Agumon first evolved into Greymon.

"Man I'm already sick of you talking and you're still on the first day!" Davis complained, "Besides, this is boring. Let's go climb the big mountain!"

"Jeez, you are so impatient," Yolei scowled, "Just let T.K. do his thing."

"It's fine Yolei. Davis, how does this sound: We'll check where we spent our first night, and maybe one or two more spots, then we'll go to Infinity Mountain." T.K. suggested.

"I dunno…"

"Works for me," Kari said.

"Yeah that's what I was gonna say! It works for me too!" Davis yelled.

Everyone laughed as they continued walking. Patamon flew on ahead, with Gatomon at his side, as T.K. drifted to the back of the group. He watched everyone quietly for a couple of moments. Yolei and Ken were holding hands, as their digimon pretending like there was nothing going on between their partners. Davis had Veemon on his shoulders as the joked around with each other. Cody was asking Armadillomon about all the different trees and bushes. And Kari…

"Boo!" T.K. jumped up in surprise

Kari was right behind T.K.

"That was uncalled for," he said with mock annoyance.

"Oh relax," she responded, winking.

T.K. laughed and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You enjoying yourself today?" He asked.

"Absolutely," she replied, "Already some excitement, plus, it's nice to get a real good look at this place. I barely spent any time here between defeating Apocalymon and having to return home."

"Yeah, thankfully we have more time now. Anything you'd really like to do while we're here?"

She smiled as she wrapped her arm around his waist, and rested her head on his shoulder as the continued to walk.

"I just want to enjoy the company."

* * *

I can't wait to put the next chapter up. I think you'll all really enjoy it. Provided you're enjoying the story so far at least!

Remember to post a review!


	3. A Bitter Memory

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season, and is looking forward to an excellent 2014, filled with lots of good stories!

I'm so relieved to be be done with this chapter, because I've been working on it for well over a month, trying to get it just exactly the way I wanted. I hope that comes across while reading it. It's definitely one of the(if not the) most important chapters! So hopefully there aren't too many problems! Although I know I'll catch mistakes as soon as I post this. Such is the life of an author. Always unsatisfied with our work!

Anyways, enough of my rambling, read and enjoy!

* * *

T.K. was running through the forest as quickly as possible. He was terrified that he had gotten separated from the rest of the group. He didn't even know how it had happened. He just turned around and everyone was gone.

"KARI!" He yelled, "Cody! Davis! Ken! Yolei! Patamon! Kari! ANYONE!"

He stopped running and bent over trying to catch his breath. _They're not gone. They're fine. I just took a wrong turn! They're looking for me now too!_

He shook his head and kept running. Suddenly, he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and changed direction to see what it was.

He came into a clearing, and saw Patamon attacking Kari. Everyone else was already laying on the ground.

"Patamon what the hell are you doing!" T.K. shouted at his Digimon.

Patamon ignored him, as did Kari and Gatomon.

"Now do you think T.K.'s useless Kari? DO YOU?" Patamon shouted at her in an unearthly tone.

"I meant what I said, we didn't need him! He was useless!" Kari shouted back.

"Wrong move," Patamon replied as he attacked again, striking down Kari.

"KARI NO!" T.K. screamed as she fell to the ground. He turned on Patamon, furious with his friend. As he approached, Patamon shrunk into the shadows, and was a dark voice rang out.

"There is no hope…"

"What? Who are you?!" T.K. yelled, spinning around.

"Noooooo HOPE!"

"NO!" T.K. screamed as he woke up.

He sat up and looked around, his head spinning. After a moment, he realised that he was still just outside of Yokomon Village, and everyone was safe.

"Hey, T.G. you okay?"

T.K. turned to see Davis approaching him.

"Uhh, yeah I think so. Bad dream I guess."

"I figured that out oddly enough. Wanna talk about it?" Davis asked.

T.K. was surprised by the sincerity in Davis' voice.

"I don't know what happened. I was looking for you guys. And I found you and Patamon, or something like Patamon was attacking everyone. Kari said… something I can't remember. And then there was this voice that kept telling me there was 'no hope'."

Davis watched T.K. for a moment, and T.K. hoped Davis didn't realise that he had hesitated when he mentioned Kari. He did remember what she had said, but he didn't want to think about it.

"Look, it was probably nothing," Davis said reassuringly, "Everyone has bad dreams on occasion. Heck I had one the other night, where I wasn't good at soccer!"

The two boys laughed at the thought of Davis not being able to play soccer.

"And come on, you know there will always be hope somewhere. Like, I hope when I get home I won't have to listen to Jun talk about Matt!"

They laughed again, and when they calmed down, T.K. nodded.

"Thanks Davis. That helps. If you want to sleep, I'll take over guard duty for you. It's close enough to our change time anyway."

"Alright thanks!"

T.K. got up and walked to the edge of the camp while Davis went to lie down next to Veemon. As T.K. settled down and started his watch, he continued to think about his dream. For the most part, he had been confused, not frightened. Then he remembered Kari's words.

"I meant what I said, we didn't need him. He was useless," he muttered to himself. For some reason, the idea of Kari saying that in anyway made T.K. feel nauseous and upset, "God I hope Kari doesn't actually believe that."

He shook his head. _Of course she doesn't. It was just a dream. If, for whatever reason, Kari didn't like me anymore, she would tell me._

He looked over at her, and smiled at the sight of the back of her head. He turned back around and continued his watch. He never knew that Kari intentionally had her back to him, and had been listening to every word he said since his scream had woken her up.

* * *

When everyone woke up in the morning, T.K. didn't say anything about his dream to anyone. Davis noticed that T.K. had acted as though his sleep had been interrupted at took the cue not to say anything himself. Kari watched her best friend as the group made their way into the village, but decided she would wait until later to talk to him. He seemed to be in a good mood, and she didn't want to ruin that.

The Yokomon had prepared an extravagant breakfast for them, and Biyomon, who spent a lot of time there when she was in the DigiWorld, told the story of how she first Digivolved into Birdramon.

"It would be really cool to visit all the places where everyone first Digivolved," Ken said when Biyomon had finished.

"We'll get to it," T.K. told him, "There aren't too many more places obviously, since we visited Dragon's Eye Lake last night. But I did promise Davis we'd climb Infinity Mountain today. We'll make one stop at Primary Village and then head up there."

"Well, as long as we get to all the important spots eventually, I'm okay with whatever we do," Cody said, while Yolei and Kari nodded in agreement.

"Well then let's get packed up and head on out again!" Davis shouted.

The group thanked the Yokomon for the food and went back to the camp and began to pack up. Just as they were finishing, Kari noticed that T.K. was missing.

"Hey, where's T.K.?" she asked. Her tone was filled with concern, she still remembered how upset he had been the previous night.

"What? You mean T.V. isn't helping us pack? What a lazy jerk!" Davis cried out, "I'm gonna find him and drag him back here and do the rest for us!"

"No need to get excited," came a voice from behind them. Kari and Davis turned to see T.K. jogging up to them.

"Sorry, I was just talking to Biyomon about something," he told them.

"About what?" Kari asked.

T.K. was about to answer before Yolei interrupted.

"Who cares, let's get going!"

T.K. gave Kari an 'I'll tell you later look' before grabbing his bag, and starting to walk off to their next destination.

It took them most of the morning to get to Primary Village, and they spent a large portion of the time flying there. Davis continuously asked if they could just skip going to the village, and only relented when Kari casually mentioned how much she wanted to go there.

When they finally reached their destination, Davis, Yolei, Ken and Cody were amazed by what they saw. The field of eggs and cribs left them all speechless. T.K. chuckled at their expressions, remembering the first time he came to primary village.

"I was hoping you guys would stop by to visit again soon!" came a voice.

The group turned to see Elecmon approaching them. Patamon cried out in joy and flew over to greet his old friend.

"It's so great to see you again! Do you mind if I get to work?" He asked the electric digimon. Before Elecmon could even open his mouth to respond, Patamon had flown off towards the eggs and started working on hatching them.

"Some things never change, eh?" Elecmon asked T.K.

"Do you really want them to?" T.K. joked, "It's good be back here. I hope you don't mind that I brought some new friends this time. Figured maybe someone else could help you out today."

"Not at all, I'm always happy to have some assistance with the little tykes," Elecmon responded enthusiastically.

Elecmon explained what he did at Primary Village, and showed the others how to hatch the eggs. They all quickly grabbed an egg and started rubbing it. It took a few minutes before one finally hatched. Yolei shrieked in surprise and delight as a Poyomon popped out of the egg. Everyone laughed as they continued to work.

T.K. stood watching everyone with Kari for a while before he turned to talk to Elecmon.

"Elecmon, I need to ask you something," he said in a serious tone.

"Anything for you kid," he responded.

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with what you were asking Biyomon would it T.K.?" Kari asked.

"It does," he told her before turning his attention back to the Digimon, "Elecmon, I have to know, has anything been changing on File Island? Any Digimon acting strangely?"

Elecmon studied T.K. for a moment before responding.

"You encountered someone who was stronger than they should have been, didn't you? And then you saw the black dust?"

"How on Earth did you know that?" Kari asked.

"Everyone has noticed it," T.K. said gravely, "Biyomon knows about it too. But she didn't have any answers."

"Well I wouldn't have either, but luckily for you, Leomon was here the other day and filled me in a little bit."

"Good, because we need to know what's going on."

"Well, Leomon isn't completely sure what's happening. But it seems that there has been a dark cloud of ash floating across the island. Sometimes you can see it in the sky, sometimes, it likely travels across the ground. Any Digimon who enter it seem to gain incredible strength. They also appear to take on many qualities of Devil Digimon."

"That explains why Hand of Fate was so strong against Kuwagamon then," T.K. said.

"That seems likely. The strange thing is though, according to Leomon the Digimon who are affected by the Dark Ash don't seem to be causing any problems. They simply continue on as they always did."

"That is strange. But more importantly, I wonder how they're getting the power," Kari commented.

"I think it's more of a question of WHO gave them the power," T.K. replied gravely, "And more importantly, how they're manipulating both the DigiWorld and the Real World."

"What do you mean T.K.?" Kari asked.

"Come on Kari, our schools are shut down at the same time there is suspicious activity in the DigiWorld? Just when we decide to come to File Island? It's not all a coincidence. Our school and Ken's were the only ones affected by whatever happened. Someone wanted us here. And if we don't figure out why soon, then who knows what else could happen," he told her.

The three of them remained silent for a moment, before Kari shook her head.

"Don't worry T.K. whatever's wrong, we'll fix it. We always have, and we always will. As long as we're around, there's no hope for evil and always hope to keep the world at peace," she said with a confident smile.

T.K. gazed off at the others in the field before responding.

"Sometimes I don't think that's true Kari," he said softly and he slowly started walking towards Patamon.

Kari and Elecmon stood dumbfounded at what T.K. had just said.

"Since when does T.K. doubt that there is hope?" Elecmon asked her.

"Never. He's never doubted it," she whispered.

* * *

An hour later, T.K. announced to the others should probably leave Primary Village, and was met with loud protests.

"Aww come on this is so fun! The Digimon are so cute!" Yolei said to him.

"I know, but I want to start climbing Infinity Mountain before night falls," T.K. responded calmly.

"It doesn't look like it's that far away though," Cody commented while looking at the mountain.

"It's not, but I want to start climbing from the other side of the mountain."

"Why would you do that?" Elecmon asked very confused, "It's much more of a gentle climb on this side of the mountain."

T.K. bit his lip, "I know but-"

"Why would you make us take the long way C.J.?" Davis asked in an annoyed tone.

"It's just-"

"Are you trying to make our lives more difficult?" Yolei added in.

"No I-"

"So you just decided that it'd be a laugh to-"

"FINE! WE'LL GO UP THIS SIDE OF THE DAMN MOUNTAIN!" T.K. screamed, losing his patience. He looked at his friends stunned faces for a moment, before he blushed and hung his head.

"Sorry, I know you guys were kidding. I don't know what happened there. Just- I just… Sorry," he finished quietly before turning to grab his things.

The others watched him for a moment, not knowing what to do. Kari turned to Patamon, and gave him a quizzical look, wondering if he knew what was happening, but Patamon just shrugged, and shook his head slightly. After a moment, Cody heaved a sigh, and walked over to the blonde.

"Hey T.K., we're sorry about that. We weren't trying to make you upset or anything. If you have a reason to take the long way, then we'll do that," he told him.

"Right," Yolei added, "Like, if the reason was, I dunno, hopefully it's easier to push Davis off a ledge…"

Everyone except Davis burst out laughing and T.K. couldn't help but feel relief that his friends weren't upset with him. He picked up his things and turned to face everyone.

"I'm sure we can find somewhere to push him on this side of the mountain too," T.K. told Yolei.

"Whatever works. I just hope I get to see Davis falling down like a fool!" Yolei laughed.

"Let's just go already!" Davis snapped as he moved to grab his things.

Everyone gathered their belongings, said goodbye to Elecmon, and started to head towards Infinity Mountain.

T.K. and Patamon led everyone through the forest between the mountain and Primary Village for a while, but T.K. soon fell further and further back in the group. No one really noticed this however, since their destination was clearly ahead of them, unlike everywhere else they had travelled. The only person who noticed that T.K. was starting to slow down, was Kari.

Each step they took toward the mountain, she noticed that his expression became graver and graver. It seemed to her that suddenly, T.K. didn't want to climb Infinity Mountain.

_But that doesn't make any sense. He was incredibly excited about it earlier,_ Kari thought to herself.

The longer she studied him, the more she realised that he was extremely apprehensive about reaching the mountain. Even Patamon was becoming more and more solemn as they continued toward their destination. She didn't understand what was happening. She reached out and tapped him on the shoulder.

T.K. turned to look at her with a curious look on his face. The two didn't speak, simply trying to read each other's expressions. Kari, trying to figure out what had changed T.K.'s mind about Infinity Mountain, while T.K. was trying to dissect the concern that covered Kari's face. They slowed to a stop as they continued to look at one another.

"T.K. what's-" Kari began to say, before T.K. placed a finger on her lips. He gave her a sad smile, shook his head, and continued following the others.

Kari watched him for a moment as the light of the slowly setting sun shone on his golden blonde hair. As she began to walk again, she realised that he didn't want her to be troubled with his problems. Little did he know, that it was too late for that.

_Silly T.K., I'll always want to help you with everything. Because I want to be there for you forever…_ She thought to herself, without even realising what she meant.

* * *

They reached foot of the mountain just as the last rays of sunlight were shining through the trees behind them. Nobody realised that they had taken much longer than they should have, because T.K. had been walking so slowly. They gazed up at the mountain before them, looking ominous as the peak was still lit while the base was shrouded in darkness.

T.K. felt a chill run down his spine and shuddered, knowing what he would soon have to face.

"Well, I say we make camp here tonight, then try to make for the top tomorrow," he said.

"Aww, come on! We're here now, we may as well start up!" Davis complained.

"I agree, there's still some light out, so we could at least make it part way up," Ken added.

T.K. furrowed his brow, trying to think of a reason to delay their ascent up the mountain. He needed something that would be a legitimate reason, without telling everyone what was bothering him. Before he could think of anything however, Patamon came to his aid.

"Well, I'm pretty tired, and it's not like we'll get very far before it's totally dark. Let's just stop here!"

Several overlapping voices began responding at the same time, and no one could figure out who was saying what. Kari stared at everyone helplessly, wishing she had her old whistle so she could try and bring some order to everyone. She looked over at T.K., who had his head buried in his hands and she snapped.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone instantly went quiet, stunned at Kari's outburst.

"Sorry," she blushed slightly, "But you were all so loud! I'm sure every Digimon on the island heard us!"

"Well they certainly heard you I bet," Yolei joked.

Kari smiled and continued, "Look, why don't we just have a vote about what to do tonight. I'm sure between the twelve of us there will be an outright answer."

"She makes a good point," Cody said, "Does everyone agree to a vote."

Everyone nodded or murmured their agreement, and Kari smiled.

"Okay when you want to vote, raise your hand," she told everyone.

"Or paw," Gatomon said.

"Right."

"Or wing," Hawkmon added.

"Alright, let's just to this!" Kari cried in exasperation, "All in favour of making camp here for the night?"

She raised her hand, along with T.K. and Patamon. She sighed in defeat.

"And all those who want to climb the mountain now?" she asked forlornly.

The nine others all raised their hands, or appropriate appendage.

"Alright let's get going!" Davis shouted, as he started to climb up the slope before them, Veemon right behind him.

As the others started to follow Davis, Patamon flew on to T.K.'s head, and began whispering in his ear. Kari watched from behind as T.K. shook his head and mumbled something back to Patamon, pushing him off his head. He turned around taking one last look at the setting sun before his eyes met Kari's. He gave her a small smile and she felt her heart beat quicken. Before she could register what was happening though, Gatomon leapt onto her shoulder and Kari gave a cry of surprise.

"Did you seriously have to vote to climb this stupid thing tonight," she asked in an annoyed tone once she had calmed down.

"What's the big deal?" Gatomon asked defensively, "It's not like it would have made a difference."

"Haven't you noticed that T.K. and Patamon have been acting strangely all day? And that they clearly would have been more comfortable walking up tomorrow?"

"To be fair, T.K.'s been acting strange since yesterday. It probably just has to do with the Digimon acting strangely," Gatomon told her.

"What about Patamon then?"

"That, I'm not so sure about," Gatomon said, "I'll just ask him what's bothering him. And while I'm at it, I'll ask about T.K. too!"

"No don't do that!" Kari cried out, causing everyone to turn and look at her. She blushed slightly, before continuing, "Sorry, I just, I don't want T.K. knowing that I'm worrying too much."

"Why?"

"I just… don't" Kari finished.

Gatomon examined Kari for a moment before leaping off her shoulder and ran after Patamon. They started talking in low voices and Kari could tell by the look on Gatomon's face, that Patamon wasn't being very forthcoming with information. Kari sighed and continued to walk up the mountain.

No one really talked for the next little while as they were all starting to run out of breath. After about an hour the path levelled off for a few hundred metres and Yolei suggested they rest there for the night. Everyone agreed and began unpacking their things except for T.K. who was looking over the ledge they were on. As he looked out over the valley and trees below them, he a look of horror appeared on his face, as he realised where they were.

"We can't stay here," he said loudly, causing everyone to turn in confusion.

"Why on Earth not?" Yolei asked in an annoyed tone.

"We just can't, okay!" T.K. hollered.

"Alright what's gotten into you today T.V." Davis shot back, "You were the one who planned this trip, you were the one who said we could climb the mountain but you're acting like a real idiot right now!"

"Back off Davis! You have no idea what you're talking about!" T.K. yelled at him.

"T.K. listen to me, it's okay!" Patamon cried out, trying to reason with him.

"No it damn well isn't!" T.K. screamed as he fell to his knees punching the ground, "I refuse to relive my greatest failure all night just because everyone else is tired!"

Everyone stared dumbfounded at him. They all looked at Kari, assuming she would know what T.K. was talking about, but she simply shook her head. Her eyes began to water as she watched her best friend punch the ground, helpless to help him.

Patamon was still trying to calm T.K. down, but despite everything he said, nothing was working.

"T.K. it wasn't your fault! No one could do anything! Don't blame yourself for my decision!"

As Patamon said those words, something clicked in Cody's mind, and he gasped, finally realising why T.K. had suddenly become so emotional.

"It can't be," he said softly.

"What can't be?" Ken asked.

Cody shook his head and approached T.K., placing a hand on his shoulder.

"This is where it happened, isn't it? This is exactly where Angemon sacrificed himself," Cody asked, though it wasn't really a question.

T.K. stopped hitting the ground, his breathing laboured. He raised his head and looked at Cody for a moment, before nodding. He slowly got to his feet, his hands still balled into fists and he walked back to the ledge, his back to everyone else. Cody stood up again and turned to the others.

"I think we should push on for a little while longer. It's still not that late, and if we can find a better spot, then I'm sure we'll all be happier," he told them.

"That's a load of crap!" Davis shouted, "There's not going to be a better spot than this!"

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right," Yolei said, "I doubt's another flat and open area anywhere else on the ascent."

"This isn't about sleeping in a comfortable spot," Cody growled, "It's about T.K. not being able to handle being here!"

"We all have places we'd rather forget about! I don't know what the big deal is," Davis said folding his arms.

"Of course you don't" Ken said calmly, "If Angemon really did die here… You don't understand what it's like to lose your Digimon. It changes you. And you want to forget about it."

"But Patamon came back!" Davis retorted, "So everything works out. I don't see why we have to climb further just because T.K. has childhood issues he can't get over!"

Everyone gasped and T.K. spun around and marched up to Davis, until their faces were inches apart.

"Say that again Goggle Boy," T.K. whispered menacingly, "I dare you."

Davis took a step back but glared right back at T.K., "Look, I'm just saying everyone has things they need to confront. You've faced worse! Stop acting like a little pansy!"

"Davis stop!" Kari shouted at him, as Ken and Cody grabbed T.K.'s shoulders, restraining him from attacking Davis, "You're supposed to be our leader! Stop acting like a child!"

"Me?!" Davis yelled in response, "At least I'm not the one who thinks my problems are more important than everyone else's and that no one understands me!"

T.K. roared in anger and broke free of Ken and Cody. He lunged at Davis and tackled him to the ground. There was a short scuffle before T.K. was kneeling over Davis. Before anyone could stop him, T.K. raised his fist and punched Davis right in the jaw, causing blood to spray all over the rocks.

"SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH ABOUT THINGS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" T.K. screamed, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE! SEEING SOMEONE SACRIFICE THEMSELVES FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE HELPLESS!"

It took the combined efforts of Ken, Cody, Veemon and Armadillomon to pull T.K. off Davis, who slowly got to his feet, his hand covering his mouth.

"Look T.K. I'm sorry! I didn't know-"

"No, you didn't," T.K. said in a low voice, "And I hope that you never, EVER do!"

With that, T.K. turned and started running back the way they came.

"T.K., where are you going?" Kari cried out as she started to run after him

"Wait!" Cody yelled, grabbing her arm, "Don't go, we should stick together! T.K. won't go too far!"

Kari yanked her arm out of Cody's grasp, "I'm not leaving him alone when he's this upset!" And she ran off before anyone else could try and stop her.

"I'm going too," Patamon said as he started to fly off.

"No!" Gatomon shouted, as she grabbed his leg, "Cody's right we need to stick together. They'll be okay together. And if anyone can help T.K., it's Kari."

They watched Kari as she disappeared around the mountain, running as fast as she could. T.K. was already far enough ahead of her that she couldn't see him, but the echoing sounds of his feet still reached her ears, which gave her the drive to keep after him.

Kari's chest began to hurt as she continued to run, wishing she was as athletic as T.K. was. It was a good thing that she was determined to catch up with him, otherwise she would have lost her nerve running along the ledge of a mountain. But she was so focused on her goal, that all other thought was driven from her mind.

As she felt her lungs scream from overuse, Kari realised that the echoes of T.K.'s feet had stopped, and there were now the cracks of many tree branches. She continued on for a few more metres, looking through the trees as she passed them, until she noticed a patch of white amidst a sea of green leaves.

Kari looked around for a moment before finding the closest branch to the ledge, and she carefully stepped onto it. She slowly made her way through the trees, using whatever she could hold on to for support.

_Boy it sure would be nice to be as agile as Gatomon right now. _She thought to herself with a small smile.

After a few minutes of navigating her way through the trees, Kari finally reached the white hat she saw, and carefully sat down. She looked at T.K. for a moment, not saying anything before she reached for his hand, gripping it softly. He squeezed her hand back and turned to look at her, his eyes filled with shame.

"Kari I- I'm so sorry," he whispered softly, his voice wavering.

She slid closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You don't have to apologise T.K. Not to me."

"Yes I do. I acted like a complete jerk back there and I had no right to!"

"What do you mean no right?" Kari scolded, raising her head, "T.K. if anyone has a right to lose control, then it's you! No one except Ken knows what you've gone through, and he was a lot older than you were. He was aware of the mistakes he had made and knew how to fix it. You lost your best friend and didn't understand why. Anybody would lose control at that."

"I know exactly why I lost him," T.K. said harshly looking away from her, "It was because I'm weak and can't do anything to help anyone."

"Stop it T.K.! Stop it right now! How dare you say you can't help anyone! I've lost count of how many times you've helped me, let alone everyone else!"

"Anyone could have done that. I didn't do anything special"

"Yes you did!" Kari cried out, "What's gotten into you T.K.? I've never seen you act so down on yourself. It's not the guy I know and it sure as hell isn't the friend I care about!"

T.K. shook for a moment, trying to keep his emotions under control. Kari tightened her grip on his hand, and with her free hand, she turned his face back to hers. They gazed into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity before T.K. finally spoke.

"Kari I'm scared," he said softly, his voice full of shame.

"Of what?"

"Of what's happening. Something's not right here. This strange new power, who knows what it is and how dangerous it could be. And seeing where Angemon sacrificed himself for me because I wasn't strong enough… It's too much. Plus, well..." T.K. trailed off not knowing if he should continue.

"You're dream?" Kari asked, guessing what T.K. was trying to avoid talking about.

He looked at her in surprise, "How did-"

"You woke me up when you screamed. I heard you and Davis talking," she said blushing slightly.

"Oh," T.K. replied looking ashamed of himself.

Kari figured out what he was thinking and squeezed his hand again.

"It's okay T.K., you don't need to share everything with me right away. You don't need to share everything with me at all if you don't want to. But I want you to know, that no matter what, there is always hope. No matter what."

"How do you know?" T.K. asked skeptically.

"Simple," Kari smiled, "Remember what Azulongmon told us? The light inside us, is hope. As long as there is light inside someone, and there always will be, then there is hope."

"How do you know there will always be light?"

"I don't know. I just hope," she said, winking at him. T.K. finally smiled at this, and she continued.

"Everyone always thinks that the light is the most important thing to defeat the darkness. That's why I always feel that I need to be strong for everyone. But because light and darkness are so balanced, my strength alone isn't enough. The hope inside me gives me the strength to keep fighting. Without it, I would be lost. So my strength is really just yours."

T.K.'s smile widened, as he wrapped his arms around Kari, pulling her into a strong hug. She smiled, as she slipped her arms around his waist, holding on to him tightly.

"Thank you Kari," T.K. whispered into her hair.

"Anything for you," she said softly.

The two friends held on to each other for several minutes before breaking apart, but the continued to look deep into each other's eyes. After a while, Kari finally spoke.

"There is one more thing about your dream that I have to mention though T.K."

"What's that?" he asked nervously.

She smiled and leaned in a little closer to him, "It was the last thing I heard you say about it. And it was absolutely ridiculous. You're far from useless. And I will always need you."

T.K. blushed and looked up at the moon for a moment, lost in contemplation. When he looked back at Kari, he instantly became lost in the beauty of her soft brown eyes and smiled. Happy that they were alone.

"It's a good thing Davis isn't here right now," he said slyly edging closer to her.

"Oh, and why is that?" Kari questioned him with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, you said that he'd have to visit any romantic places on the island alone. And this spot is pretty romantic."

Kari blushed as well, but continued to gaze into T.K.'s deep blue eyes. The two friends slowly leant their heads closer together…

And the tree began to move.

"AHHH" Kari shrieked, grabbing on to T.K., "T.K. what's happening?!"

"I don't know," he said holding onto his friend, "But I don't think we're alone."

"Oh no," said a sly voice beneath them, "No you are not!"

* * *

Was it mean that I just did that? I feel like it was a little mean. :P

Anyway, hope that cliffhanger keeps you all interested! Please review and let me know what you think!


	4. Revelations

I can't believe how fast I wrote this chapter compared to the last one! I'm glad I got it out quickly because I have some explaining to do. But I'll save that for the end of the chapter. For now, read on!

* * *

Davis watched the mountain path waiting for T.K. and Kari to return. He was starting to worry that something may have happened to them. They had been gone too long.

"Still nothing?" Yolei called over, sitting at a campfire they had made.

"No, not yet," Davis sighed in frustration turning back and approaching the others.

"Don't worry about it Davis," Ken said reassuringly as the maroon haired boy sat down, "They may be alone but we'd know if something went wrong."

"Although if there was a problem, it would be cool to try out that idea you had Davis," Cody told him, trying to raise his spirits.

Davis grunted, "You sure you want to try another one of my ideas? The last one worked out so well…"

"No the idea was good Davis," Ken responded, "Acting obnoxious to get T.K. angry and talk about what was bothering him did technically work."

"We just underestimated how big of a deal it was," Yolei said sadly.

Davis just nodded his head and stared into the fire. Despite all the times he tried to get under T.K.'s skin, he was genuinely worried. He had really come to respect and admire his blonde friend over the past few years. Davis sometimes wished that he could be as calm and collected as T.K., and that he could be the same sort of great guy that T.K. was. True, he did resent T.K. a little for being the obvious centre of Kari's affection. Even if Kari and T.K. didn't realise what they felt for each other, everyone else saw it. But Davis knew that if he were to lose Kari to someone, T.K. was someone he respected enough to let him have her.

"Well, hopefully now we can all help T.K. together," Davis said firmly, "And if there's a problem on the island, then we'll make sure we deal with it."

The others started nodding in agreement when they heard a crash in the distance. Everyone spun around to look down the path, where the sound was coming from.

"Kari and T.K. must be in trouble!" Gatomon cried out as she began running off.

"We've got to help them!" Patamon shouted as he flew after Gatomon.

Davis jumped to his feet and turned to the others, "Let's go! And Cody, I think you're right. I think this might be a good chance to try out my new plan…"

* * *

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH"

T.K. and Kari screamed and landed with a thud as they fell off what they thought was a tree. T.K. got unsteadily to his feet and quickly moved to help Kari get up.

"Sorry to disrupt that little moment you lovebirds, but it is rather uncomfortable having someone sit on your head."

The two friends looked up to see a large tree Digimon towering over them. T.K. put his arm in front of Kari and pushed her back a couple of steps.

"Besides, what fun would having all this extra power be if I didn't use it to squash a couple of DigiDestined when I got the chance?" The Digimon asked with a smirk.

"Who the heck are you?" T.K. shouted.

"And why on Earth would you want to squash us?" Kari added.

"Me? Why I'm just a simple Cherrymon!" was the response, "And as for squashing you, it was part of the promise I gave to my benefactor. In exchange for power, I kill DigiDestined! It's a great deal really."

"Who gave you the power?" T.K. asked.

"Unfortunately, you'll never know," Cherrymon smirked, "Now, stand still and I'll make this quick. VINE ATTACK!"

T.K. tackled Kari to the ground just in time to dodge the attack. He stood up but before he could do anything else, Cherrymon swung an arm and caught T.K. in the chest knocking him several metres away from Kari. He grunted in pain as he slowly got to his feet again. He looked around to see Kari rolling around as Cherrymon smashed his arms on the ground, toying with her.

"Now, now my dear you can't keep this up forever," Cherrymon taunted, "Why don't you just lie still so I can end your life quickly!"

"T.K. help me!" Kari cried out in fear.

As Cherrymon smashed the ground again, T.K. did the first thing he thought of. He ran towards the Digimon and jumped onto one of his arms, ran up it and started punching and kicking him. He knew it wouldn't do much good, but he had to buy Kari time to go get the others.

Cherrymon grunted in annoyance as a particularly strong kick knocked some of his bark off. He stopped hitting the ground and snatched T.K. off his shoulder.

"Kari run! Go get the others!" he yelled at her, while dangling upside down.

Kari stayed laying on the ground, frozen with fear. She wanted to move but her body refused to obey her commands, as she watched on helplessly as Cherrymon began beating her best friend.

"You little fool!" Cherrymon shouted as he smacked T.K. again and again, "What did you plan to do? Kick me to death? You should know when there's no hope!"

"No hope…" T.K. muttered suddenly much more afraid then he had been a moment ago. He watched as Cherrymon raised another arm preparing to strike again, and closed his eyes tightly, not wanting to witness the killing blow. He heard Kari scream and waiting for the impact.

"FLAME FIST!"

Cherrymon screamed as he was hit with a ball of fire, and he dropped T.K. Kari quickly rushed to T.K.'s side and they turned to see Flamedramon standing on the opposite side of the grove.

"Kari, T.K. stand back! You don't want to get in the way," he called to them.

Kari helped T.K. get gingerly to his feet and they moved into the trees as quickly as they could. They looked around, trying to see everyone else, but to no avail.

"Where are they? Flamedramon can't do this on his own!" Kari cried out.

Cherrymon had dealt with the fire and was now trying to land a hit on the Armor Digimon.

"Vine Attack! Gah, stand still! Make this easier on yourself," he threatened, "You don't stand a chance all alone!"

"Who says he's alone?" came a voice, as Digmon erupted from the ground behind Cherrymon, "Gold Rush!"

Cherrymon was hit from and stumbled forward. He looked back and forth between his two opponents.

"So you think this is all it will take to defeat me? Come and get it!" He shouted as he attacked.

"Gold Rush!"

"Flame Fist!"

Cherrymon laughed as both attacks hit the ground in front of him, leaving him completely unfazed.

"How pathetic," he said mockingly. He took a step towards Digmon when suddenly, the ground began to rumble. Without warning, a hole appeared beneath Cherrymon and he fell in, colliding with the walls as he did so.

"Well, it looks like someone didn't mind their footing," Digmon taunted, "And now he's just lumber waiting to be burned! Flamedramon, would you do the honours?"

"It'll be my pleasure," Flamedramon smirked, "Fire Rocket!"

Flamedramon charged into Cherrymon, landed and charged again. After four attacks he finally stopped next to Digmon as they watched Cherrymon try to extinguish the flames. He cried out in pain, as a faint trickle of black dust floated away into the smoke.

T.K. and Kari stood up and approached Digmon and Flamedramon, just as they heard a shout to their left.

"Hey, you guys are alright!"

They turned to see Davis and the others running towards them. Gatomon and Patamon quickly overtook the others and leapt into the arms of their partners.

"Never do that to us again! We were worried sick!" Gatomon scolded the two of them.

"Davis your idea worked perfectly!" Cody cheered, as the others joined them.

"I told you, having Digmon hollow the ground under someone would do the trick," Davis laughed.

As everyone continued celebrating, T.K. approached Cherrymon, who had finally extinguished himself, but was severely damaged, and obviously weakened.

"Come to gloat," he asked in a weak voice as T.K. reached him.

T.K. ignored the question.

"Who's controlling you?" he said in a demanding tone.

"Controlling me? Who says I'm being controlled?"

"Is it Puppetmon?" T.K. questioned further, once again ignoring what the Digimon said, "I know of a Cherrymon who served him in the past."

"He is Puppetmon, and yet he is more," Cherrymon replied, "I myself am not entirely sure. I know only of the dark cloud that spoke to me. It was a voice I didn't know. And yet a voice that was all too familiar."

"And what did it want?" T.K. asked angrily.

"To give me strength," Cherrymon explained, "More strength than I had ever known. Strength that I may use as I see fit. The only promise I had to make was to destroy the DigiDestined should I see them."

"Why? Why would you agree to that?"

Cherrymon laughed, "There are powers and desires you will never understand. I could spend a year explaining to you why I did what I did, but it would make no difference. Now do what you will with me."

T.K. watched Cherrymon for a moment before turning around and walking back to the others.

"Sorry for the delay. Let's get back to the base of the mountain and make camp," he told them.

Everyone nodded in agreement and slowly followed T.K. out of the grove.

* * *

As they walked back to where the mountain slope began, Kari once again found herself near the back of the group. She had meant to lag behind a bit this time however, because she needed to talk to Yolei.

The bespectacled girl listened as Kari recounted what had just happened with T.K.

"And then, he made a comment about how romantic everything was," she said, "That's when Cherrymon revealed himself."

"So? What's the big deal?" Yolei asked, "It just seems like he was upset and you cheered him up like you've done a dozen times in the past."

"Well, there was a bit more to it," Kari replied shyly.

"Oh? What else?"

Kari blushed slightly, "Yolei, I think you're right."

"Right about what?" Yolei asked with a confused expression on her face.

"About T.K." Kari replied, "I think he likes me."

"What? Why?"

"And I'm pretty sure I like him," Kari continued as though Yolei hadn't said anything.

"WHAT?!" Yolei shouted, causing everyone turn to look at her.

Kari smacked Yolei's arm as both girls blushed, trying to ignore the curious expressions on the faces of the four boys ahead of them.

"Way to be discreet," Kari scolded.

"Sorry," Yolei replied guiltily, "I just really wasn't expecting that! What changed your mind?"

"I don't know exactly how it happened. But just before Cherrymon attacked, T.K. and I, we almost kissed."

"Really?!"

"Well, I think so. I wasn't thinking, I just started to lean towards him instinctively. And I think he was as well."

"Oh I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" Yolei squealed as quietly as she could.

Kari smiled at her friend's excitement, "Not that I want to rain on your parade, but I could be wrong about all this."

Yolei rolled her eyes, "Come off it Kari. He's into you. And if you've finally realised that you're into him, then anything's possible."

"He could still be interested in someone else. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing. Or maybe I just misread what was happening," Kari replied.

Before Yolei could say anything else, Davis called that it was too late to keep going, and they should stop to make camp. They spent a few minutes making preparations to sleep, and T.K. volunteered to take the first watch. Kari thought of protesting but yawned widely and decided that she should just get some sleep, and work on worrying about T.K. in the morning.

As everyone started to fall asleep one by one, Yolei turned to Kari, and spoke to her in an eager whisper.

"Forgetting about what T.K. wants, I'm just glad you're finally able to admit you like him."

Kari smiled and shook her head a little bit. She looked over at T.K.'s back and felt warm inside.

_Yeah, I really do._ She thought to herself.

Across the makeshift campsite, T.K. was thinking about the same girl who had just closed her eyes while thinking about him. Despite everything that had happened over the past couple of days, he couldn't help but feel happy about what had almost happened when they had been sitting together.

A week ago, he wouldn't had given it a second thought. But ever since his birthday T.K. had been thinking about Kari more often than normal. Much more often. He relived the events of that night for what seemed to be the millionth time. When she showed up to take him out for their traditional birthday hang out. Everyone surprising him at the restaurant. The smile that didn't seem to leave Kari's face the whole night. The two of them walking home, teasing Davis. And Kari kissing him on the cheek.

T.K. rubbed his face where her lips had touched him and smiled. He had never really been interested in a girl before, and he always assumed it was because he was so close with Kari that he didn't feel the need to have a girlfriend. But now he was starting to wonder if it was because he had always really been interested in being with Kari.

He had always thought she was the most attractive girl he knew, and he loved spending time with her. He hated any day where he didn't get to talk to her and couldn't stand the idea of her being upset. The fact that he had caused her pain earlier didn't make him happy with himself.

_But does it mean that I have feelings for her?_ He thought to himself.

T.K. looked over at Kari again and sighed, wishing he could figure out how he felt about her. He turned back, and made himself comfortable to sit out the duration of his watch.

A couple hours later, T.K. felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Davis standing over him.

"You look exhausted man, you should get some sleep. I'll take over for a while," Davis said.

T.K. shook his head, "No, it's fine. I can keep going. Besides, I owe you that much."

Davis examined his friend for a moment. He knew T.K. probably did feel quite guilty about his breakdown earlier, but he assumed there was more to it.

"You're scared to go to sleep aren't you? You think you'll have another nightmare."

T.K. hesitated a moment before nodding. Davis sighed and sat on a stump next to T.K., trying to figure out what to say.

"Look T.K., I'm sorry for what I did earlier. I'll admit that I was trying to get you to open up, but I went about it totally the wrong way," he said softly, "We're all worried about you, and there was just such a change in your attitude."

"I know," T.K. sighed, "That's why I wanted to start on the North side of the mountain instead of the South. I want to climb to the top but I knew we'd pass that spot on this side, but we'd miss it on the Northern path. I was too scared about what would happen. Especially with whatever other power is at play right now."

"Don't worry about it. It's okay," Davis responded as he grasped T.K.'s shoulder, "Tomorrow, we'll start up on the far side of the mountain and when we get to the top, we'll figure out what to do about this new enemy."

"Or maybe I could just see what happens in my dream tonight," T.K. said despondently as he stood up.

"Oh don't be like that," Davis smirked, "Just go curl up next to Kari and sleep it off."

"Yea-WHAT?!" T.K. cried out in surprise.

"I just meant that Patamon's over there sleeping near Gatomon," Davis said with his eyebrows raised, "I don't know what you're thinking of. Although I'm sure she could keep the bad dreams away."

T.K. blushed and nodded at Davis as he turned away. He heard Davis chuckle as he made his way across the campsite to where Patamon was. He settled down and found that he was within inches of Kari and he couldn't help but smile. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he felt her shift and he opened his eyes to see that she was slightly pressed into his body.

He resisted the urge to wrap an arm around her, and closed his eyes again. He fell asleep with a large smile on his face.

Several hours later, he woke up screaming in fear.

* * *

First off, I hope you all liked that chapter!

I also hope that clears somethings up from the last chapter. Such as Davis being an idiot, and why T.K. changed his mind amount climbing the mountain.

I know that sometimes things happen that don't really make sense, and it bugs some of you. I knew I was gonna get some flak for making Davis lash out at T.K. All I can say is that everything I'm doing is intentional, and even if it doesn't make sense now, it will later on. So I just ask you to bear with me and keep reading!

As always, let me know what you think! I love you all for your feedback, and I hope that I'm still writing a story you're enjoying!


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